Nao That’s What I Call Music

Little bonus album for the Brothers.

This has been bubbling under on my (metaphorical) turntable in the last couple of weeks, and it’s slowly dawning on me that’s it’s a work of complete genius. Nao’s one of the brighter lights of the British neo-soul/R&B scene, and she first came to my attention via the brilliant collaboration she did with Mura Masa a couple of years back:

I liked her debut, but I didn’t love it. This is her second album and it is a GIANT leap forward. It has such a beguiling mix of classic soul tropes, great 90s R&B arrangements (of the kind Brother Joey and I used to lap up back in the day), but it also strays deliciously into Frank Ocean territory, like this gem:

Best of all, it is just JAM PACKED full of great songs and top songwriting chops. It starts off pretty slowly, but really gets into its swing mid album, and the run of songs – Saturn, Gabriel, Orbit and Love Supreme – are as good as anything I’ve heard in a very long time.

What do you reckon, Brothers? Thought I’d throw a little extra listening into them mix.

That’s interesting, Brother Joey. It did take a good few goes before I really grasped quite how good the songs were. It felt a tad generic to start with, but it really opened up on repeated listens, and then suddenly I was like – BLAM, this is amazing. Can hear so many things I love in her songs – Frank Ocean, Lucy Pearl, Macy Gray even.

Totally. I am having the same initial experience. It’s really well and consistently reviewed so I figured I was missing something. I get the reference points (except Mr. Ocean – that one’s not revealed it’s self yet) but it’s just not yet ‘landed’ I’ll keep going.